Mr. TV: Facing the Critics

If you read this column regularly, you’re probably girding yourself for my annual discussion about covering the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour which traditionally starts this week. I have, after all, done so for the last decade, always bitching and moaning about how the tour conflicts with the early weeks of my summer passion, Big Brother on CBS. Well, guess what? The start of the tour has been pushed back to late July, so I have had a chance to sample this latest installment of the laziest reality/competition on the air. Not surprisingly, I am completely addicted again. While I cannot stand another season of gloating bodybuilder Jessie, there is always the possibility he will be voted off soon. And I really like dividing up the contestants into high school cliques. It adds a new twist to the aging formula.I imagine at this point we are all getting a bit tired of all the summer schlock on the broadcast networks. Case in point: Tonight (July 20), ABC is introducing Dating in the Dark, a new reality/competition at 10 p.m. that features six single contestants (three men and three women) who are separated by sex and have the opportunity to date in total darkness. That’s right…they can hook up with the lights off. They should really call this Return to Eighth Grade. As dumb as this sounds, the nonscripted show it replaced was Here Come the Newlyweds, yet another clunker (which happens to air out of inane The Bachelorette). I could go on and on.Unlike last summer, my passion for established summer fare like America’s Got Talent on NBC (still performing well), Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance (down year to year) and ABC’s Wipeout has seriously ebbed.While there are original scripted options on the broadcast nets, I think we have seen a record number of canceled shows like ABC’s Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone; Harper’s Island on CBS; and NBC’s Kings just burning off the final episodes. And I am not convinced part one of NBC miniseries The Storm this Sunday is worth watching given the failure of recent four-hour entry Meteor to generate any interest. Next week, I head off to Pasadena, Calif. for what many see as the final hurrah for the TCA. Since I have been hearing this for about two years now, I refuse to believe an event where TV critics gather from across the country to assess the upcoming season is about to become extinct. We are, after all, the people who help shape the small screen’s direction and offerings. But I will not—and never will—jump on the bandwagon to support a series that I know will not succeed. When a critic reviews a show, I think part of the analysis should fall within the current taste of the audience. With that in mind, I predict the biggest new hit of the upcoming 2009-10 season (from a total viewer standpoint) will be CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles simply because it will fit like a glove out of well-established procedural parent NCIS. I also think the one show that could spark interest among the pivotal young adult demos is ABC’s Flash Forward. And the series with the most sleeper potential is Vampire Diaries on The CW. ABC sitcom Modern Family is getting buzz, and deservedly so, but from a ratings standpoint it will be an uphill battle.So I will be in search of quality new scripted fare that I think will attract the masses.Wish me luck because it won’t be easy.

Convergent TV

Mr. TV: Facing the Critics

Marc Berman

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Marc Berman